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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. band — a music group
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. stem — to come from
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. object — an aim
  10. bound — certain
  11. object — to protest
  12. band — a ring
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. squash — the sport
  15. squash — to crush
  16. bound — tied together
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. field — farmland
  19. field — for sport
  20. bound — obliged
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. field — a subject
  23. object — a thing
  24. squash — the vegetable

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com